Recipe: Make Hawaii-style ahi poke wherever you are

Here's how you can make the basic poke mixture of cubed raw ahi (tuna), salty seaweed, and crunchy sweet onions with Hawaiian-style spices.

By Kalei Talwar Jul 17, 2009

HAWAII Magazine reader “C.C.” wrote us to ask how she could make one of her favorite Hawaii snacks at home.

Do you have a recipe to make poke? My husband and I love to eat the version of it made with raw tuna.

You ask. We Answer.

There’s nothing better than heading to the beach first thing Saturday morning (or even late afternoon) with a cooler full of icy drinks and fresh poke. The basic poke mixture of cubed raw ahi (tuna), salty seaweed, and crunchy sweet onions is so delicious and refreshing, I’m salivating just writing about it.

The word poke (pronounced poh-keh) is Hawaiian, meaning “to slice or cut crosswise into pieces.” The poke first eaten by native Hawaiians was a simple mixture of raw fish, Hawaiian salt, seaweed and chopped kukui nuts (called inamona in Hawaiian). Post-colonial contact, that basic recipe got a bit more interesting with the introduction of onions and, sometimes, tomatoes to the mix.

Go to most fish markets in Hawaii today and you’ll find a wide selection of poke—from tako (octopus) with ginger and garlic to tofu in shoyu with watercress and tomato. We’ve seen poke recipes with raw crab, cooked shrimp, clams, smoked salmon, pipi kaula (dried and smoked beef), even seared ribeye steak. There are now hundreds of poke recipes in Hawaii for every kind of taste.

Here is an easy recipe for classic ahi shoyu poke with ingredients even our friends on the Mainland can find. Just be sure to seek out freshly caught tuna to make it.